Ms. Russell
Second Grade Newsletter
Chaparral School

October 26, 2009
Dear Room 6 Families,
First, our room parents, Ms. Flock and Mrs. Kachlik, will be calling you soon to arrange a time for parent conferences. There will be choices of times and dates. All of these days are minimum days. I look forward to talking with you about our goals for your child. This is a wonderful class!

I want you to stay up to date on your child’s AR progress. By November 6 (the trimester cutoff point) your child should have taken at least eight (8) quizzes. Please check the attached progress report. Let me know if you have any questions at all. This is a valuable program on many levels, especially comprehension, and I go over each quiz, right after your child has taken it, to monitor progress, as well as offer strategies and encouragement.

To those of you who worked so hard and to those who were able to attend the Chaparral Golf Classic last Monday, our thanks for your spirit of fun, your hard work, and your enormous generosity. All of us at Chaparral benefit from these events.

SCIENCE: Last week we gave faces to our pumpkins and interviewed our Jack-O-Lanterns. This week, we will be making graphs, measuring, and, finally, planting some of the pumpkin seeds. We should see the seeds sprouting within a week or two, if this warm weather continues.

Last Friday afternoon and evening, our Chaparral garden got off to a good start. We made two large planting boxes, planted a kumquat tree, pounded in the metal poles to support the garden fence, and raked all the “Claremont potatoes” from the area to create a large, smooth garden bed. In the next few weeks we will be sprouting seeds to put in our new garden. THANK YOU to the Kaljumagi family for all their hard work and good cheer.

In our Scott Foresman Science program, we are learning about using tools and machines and how they can be used to move things that would be difficult to pick up and move. The lesson is based on these three concepts (1) pushes and pulls help us move things, (2) tools and machines help us do things we cannot do alone, (3) they make it easier to move things. These important basic concepts will be expanded upon throughout the grades.

LANGUAGE ARTS: For the next two weeks we will be reading Exploring Parks With Ranger Docket. Ranger Docket is an urban park ranger who takes care of city parks and teaches people about exploring nature. The genre introduced is nonfiction (writing that presents and explains real people, things, and events) and the writing focus is on creating a paragraph with a main idea and supporting details. Please be sure to visit our Room 6 web site for excellent learning games on the Eduplace web site. Just click on HELPFUL LINKS, then LANGUAGE ARTS, then EDUPLACE, then Grade 2, then scroll down to the Theme: Nature Walk, then the story “Around the Park with Ranger Dockett”. I have introduced the students to the activities in these stories and they will be able to take it from there. Note: This is an excellent way for emerging readers to improve their skills. The computer program will read the text for many of the activities, such as the e-Glossary.

POEM: Rain Dance. I know;it is wishful thinking.

MATHEMATICS: Last week focused on number equivalency. The children are learning this concept rapidly through the game "Broken Calculator".

SOCIAL STUDIES: We start Unit 2: The Land Around Us. In this unit, the students will learn about different kinds of maps, living in California, the land and water of North America, and our immigrant heritage. The vocabulary words the children will learn are: location, country, land form, immigrant, cardinal directions, map legend, city, urban, suburb, rural, and pioneers.

HALLOWEEN: You are most welcome to attend the Halloween parade. We will have a picture session after the parade, in front of the classroom. Please pack school clothes for your child, if the Halloween costume is not appropriate for school activities. Remember, it is also “Give Drugs The Slip” day and the children may wear slippers.

RED RIBBON WEEK: Your Friday folders contained all the information on Red Ribbon Week. Today I will be handing out the wrist bands and pencils and we will decorate the campus with red ribbons. The class’s OUR HEALTHY CHOICES quilt is on the slider in the quad. Come by and see it!